1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a media processing device such as a check processing device having an optical reading unit that reads an image of a medium conveyed through a curved conveyance path. The invention relates more specifically to a media processing device that can scan images of both first media such as checks that bend easily, and second media such as driver's licenses and other cards that do not bend easily.
2. Related Art
Checks are commonly used in bank operations for settling deposit and withdrawal processes. When a check is used to settle a transaction, the date and signature on the check are confirmed at the teller window, the necessary deposit or withdrawal process is completed, and the check used in the transaction is then endorsed on the back. A receipt for the check process is then given to the customer. A driver's license or other type of identification card is typically required to confirm the identity of the person presenting the check, and a copy of the identification card may be taken and stored as needed. These processes must be frequently performed in a short time at the teller window.
Check processing devices that can perform these processes electronically are also available. This type of check processing device reads magnetic information from a check using a magnetic ink character reader (MICR), scans checks and ID cards with an internal optical scanner, and prints an endorsement on each check using an internal printer.
Such a device is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2004-297761. The data reader described in JP-A-2004-297761 uses an image scanning sensor disposed in the straight part of a check conveyance path that curves in a U-shaped configuration to read driver licenses and other types of identification cards that do not bend easily. More specifically, checks that bend easily are conveyed through a U-shaped check conveyance path, hard-to-bend cards are conveyed through a straight card path, and the common path through which both checks and cards are conveyed is a straight part of the U-shaped check conveyance path. Flexible media such as checks bend as they travel through the curved path, and are conveyed to the straight common conveyance path where the scanner is located. Both check processes and identity verification processes required for processing checks can thus be done efficiently using the data reader described in JP-A-2004-297761.
While a stamper or similarly simple mechanism can be used as the check endorsement printing device, using an inkjet head enables printing various kinds of information. When an inkjet head is used, however, a head maintenance mechanism must also be provided in order to prevent the nozzles from clogging when the inkjet head is not being used. The head maintenance mechanism has a nozzle cap for capping the nozzle face of the inkjet head. In this case, a mechanism for keeping the inside of the nozzle cap wet in order to prevent the nozzle cap from drying is also desirable as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2001-18408 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2009-226719.
When both checks and cards are imaged by the scanner on the straight common conveyance path as described in the data reader in JP-A-2004-297761, checks and cards can become jammed at the junction where the check path and the card path merge into the common path. Cards can jam at this junction particularly easily when cards travel bidirectionally through the junction between the common path and the card path in the card scanning operation. For example, when the leading end of a card is bent and the card passes from the common path through the junction into the card path, the leading end of the card can hit the part of the junction where the card path and the check path diverge, resulting in the card becoming jammed.
The length of the check path may also be short relative to the length of the check in order to make the check processing device more compact, and the check is therefore read with the scanner while still passing through the conveyance path junction. The length of the card path is also short relative to the card length, and cards are read with the scanner while passing through the junction. As a result, when the leading end of a card or check is bent or folded and the card or check is conveyed from the card path or the check path through the junction into the common path, card or check conveyance can become unstable, and conveying the card or check at a constant speed past the scanning position of the scanner disposed in the common path may not be possible. The scanned image captured by the scanner may therefore be distorted, and reading the image accurately may not be possible.
When an inkjet head is used as the printing device for printing check endorsements, a head maintenance mechanism (nozzle cap) is needed as described above to prevent the nozzles from clogging. Because a dry nozzle cap can result in clogged nozzles, a mechanism for keeping the inside of the nozzle cap desirably wet is needed, but providing such a mechanism is undesirable in terms of reducing device size.